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WARREN RUDA / THE CITIZENS’ VOICE Emily Laurore, 15, a Wyoming Seminary senior, is president of the youth council through the local chapter of the NAACP. Emily got involved with the NAACP because her mother, a member herself, started bringing her to meetings when they lived in Michigan.

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With 15 years of life experience behind her, Emily Laurore knows she can make a difference.

The Wyoming Seminary senior wants to help other students and kids learn that for themselves in her capacity as president of the youth council through the local chapter of the NAACP.

“It’s all about believing in yourself and believing that you can help other people,” she said. “If there’s an impact you want to make and you’re committed to doing that, you can make it happen.”

Emily got involved with the NAACP because her mother, a member herself, started bringing her to meetings when they lived in Michigan.

“When we came here that was something we wanted to be a part of,” she said.

Now that her youth council has received its formal charter, Emily said they are planning a luncheon where Wilkes-Barre Councilwoman Beth Gilbert will speak. The theme, Emily said, is “Our voices matter, our lives matter, we matter.”

“We’re showing a different side of the youth in Wilkes-Barre and showing other kids they can make a difference as well,” she said.

Emily started her freshman year at Wyoming Seminary at 12 years old. Back then, her highest ambition was to become a neurosurgeon.

Then she joined the mock trial team and found a passion for the law.

“I definitely want to be an attorney,” she said. “I want to find a way to combine science and law.”

As a senior, Laurore juggles her NAACP duties with her positions as captain of the mock trial and tennis teams. She said a typical day starts with heading to school in the morning, tennis practice or matches from 3:30 p.m. until 5:30 p.m., mock trial from 7 p.m. until 10 p.m. some nights, and only then does she have time do her homework.

“And then it starts again,” she said. “It’s really about managing your time... and getting help from other people, setting aside time to study.”

On top of tennis, mock trial and NAACP meetings, Emily also plays piano. She played an honors recital at Carnegie Hall in New York City last year and plans to audition for that recital again.

She has started applying to colleges — the University of Pittsburgh is her top choice.

She’ll be 16 when she starts college next year, but the potential age difference between Emily and her classmates does not make her nervous.

“I’ve always identified with people older than me,” she said. “Ultimately I’m really happy about the decision.”

sscinto@citizensvoice.com
570-821-2048, @sscintoCV

Guerline L. Laurore

Q. What successful parenting strategy can you share with other parents?

A. I think my biggest strategy has been praying. Praying to God for guidance and doing research. When Emily was younger I did get a sense that she was interested in learning. She was able to read the Bible when she was 3 so what I did was just try to foster that and provide her with enrichment opportunities so that she could continue to be challenged.

Q. At what moment did you realize your child was special?

A. I didn’t really realize it myself; I think my brothers did because she was 18 months and she was watching a tape with the ABCs and they said ... she was saying the letters before the tape was saying the letters. They were like “Guerline, I think she knows the letters!” She was able to start reading very early so we tried to help her with that.

Q. What is the greatest challenge you’ve encountered in raising your child?

A. The greatest challenge has been to find the right balance in terms of keeping her enriched, keeping her challenge but also allowing her to be a child and be socially adaptive with her peers. That has been the challenge because you still want her to be at a level intellectually. She started HS at the age of 12 so she was a lot younger, she looked younger, but as far as intellectually she was ready but we weren’t sure if socially she was going to be ready. We prayed a lot for her, for protection, for guidance and she was blessed to be in a community like Wyoming Seminary where the students were very embracing, the teachers, the staff were very much willing to assist her and just to treat like a normal child and I think very rarely did she feel that she was too young to be here. Everyone has been so welcoming that we’ve been very blessed to find this school.

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